Clothes hamper



Feb. 2, 1965 H. DESCHENES 3,168,271

CLOTHES HAMPER Filed Oct. 9, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fl G. 1.

INVENTOR. Harvey Deschenes dliornj CLOTHES HAMPER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 9, 1965 FIG.

FIGA.

INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,168,271 CLOTHES HAMPER Harvey Deschenes, 128 Austin St., Worcester, Mass. Filed Oct. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 315,062 8 Claims. (Cl. 248-429) This invention relates to hampers such as those employed for laundry purposes, and one of the objects of the invention is to provide a, hamper of the kind in which the clothes-containing bag, included as a part of the hamper, can be readily raised and lowered to meet various requirements.

With hampers of this kind, it is especially desirable that the emptying of the bag shall be conducted in such a manner that stooping to remove the bag contents shall be avoided. Hence it is important that the bag be in an elevated position during the emptying procedure. On the other hand, while the bag is being filled, either by laundry emanating from a laundry chute or by being manually filled, that the bag shall be in a lowered position. It is also desirable that the bag be in a lowered position while the hamper is in storage, to thereby reduce its overall height and enable it to be stored in a restricted position or area.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a hamper of simple, sturdy construction and one in which the bag-support can be readily raised or lowered to meet requirements. It is an object of the invention to provide means by which the raising movement of the bag-support will be restricted and which means will also be effective to hold down the bag-support when the same is in its lowered position.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a wheeled carriage by means of which the hamper is conveniently moved from place to place; of upstanding posts on the carriage; of a bag-support having a bag-carrying frame at the top, with legs extending downwardly therefrom and telescopically fitted over the posts. Springs are contained within the posts and such springs extend into the legs and they tend to bias the bag-support to a raised position, and catch means in provided by which the raising movement of the bag-support is restricted and which means is also effective to hold down the bag-support in a lowered position when it is placed in such position.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in View. I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a hamper constructed according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the same with the bag omitted;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the corner posts and the leg of the bag-support fitted thereover;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the hamper with the bag omitted;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 and showing the action of the stop means which limits the upward movement of the bagsupport;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation, on a reduced scale, of the carriage;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one corner of the bagsupporting frame showing how the bag is suspended therefrom, and

FIG. 8 shows how the bag-support is retained in its lowered position by a catch or detent means.

The improved hamper is composed of three main elements namely, a supporting carriage generally indicated at 1, a bag-support generally indicated at 2, and the bag 3 supported thereby.

The carriage 1, shown separately in FIG. 6, includes an encircling frame member or brace 4 which is of substantially rectangular shape and extends around and is secured to the four upstanding tubular corner posts 5, each of which is open at the top and has its lower end located below the frame member 4 to receive a caster 6 that includes the roller or wheel 7. By the wheeled arrangement described, the carriage may be conveniently moved from place to place.

The bag-support includes a top frame member 1811, which is preferably composed of wire rod and is of substantially rectangular shape. Extending downwardly from each corner of the frame 18a is a hollow or tubular leg 18 having an internal diameter which enables it to slidably fit over one of the posts 5. The frame member 18a is welded or otherwise suitably attached at the tops of the holiow legs 18. This arrangement is such as to provide for a telescopic mounting of the bag-support 2 in respect to the carriage 1 and to enable the bag-support to be elevated when desired to facilitate the removal of the contents of the bag, or else to be lowered while the bag is being filled or while the hamper is stored in a closet or elsewhere.

The laundry-receiving bag is shown at 3 and the same may be composed of fabric or other flexible sheet material and the bag is open at the top and is provided thereat with loops (FIGS. 1 and 7) by means of which it is suspended from the frame member 18a.

Located within each of the posts 5 and projecting upwardly therefrom and being partially located within each of the legs 13 is a compression coil spring it said springs tending to normally elevate the bag-support 2 to an extent permitted by stop means to be presently described.

Each of the springs 10 is confined between a lug 11 (FIG. 3) stamped out of the leg 18 and bent inwardly into the interior of the leg, and a similar lug 28 formed out of the leg 5. This arrangement is such that the bagsupport 2 is constantly biased upwardly by the force of the springs 10.

One each side of the carriage 1 is a guide rod 13 which extends vertically upwardly, the same being each secured at its lower end to the frame member 4 by a bolt 12 or other fastener, and said guide rods 13 are guided through eyes or loops 14 projecting from a reinforcing frame member 15 which ext-ends around and is welded to the legs 18 near the lower ends of said legs. At its upper end each of the guide rods 13 is provided with a head 16 in the form of a flattened loop constituting a detent and acting as a stop to limit the upward movement of the bag-support, as shown in PEG. 5 under the biasing action of the spring 16, and also acting as a catch member to hold down the bag-support when desired and as shown in FIG. 8.

In FIGS. 1 and 4, the bag-support 1, which normally carries the bag 3 within it with the upper open end of the bag disposed upwardly, is shown in a slightly elevated position in order to clearly disclose construction. In its fully lowered position, the bag-support has its side rails 17 and 19 of the frame member 18a engaged under the loops 16 which then serve as detents or catches to hold down the bag-support 2 and prevent it from rising under the urge of the springs 10. In FIG. 5, these loops 16 are shown in engagement over the frame member 15, which engagement occurs when the bag-support reaches the limit of its elevating movement. In such a position, the loops 16 serve as stops to thereby limit the elevation of the bagsupport and the bag 3 carried thereby. In similar manner, the loops 16 take over the tops of the side rails 17 and of the rods 13 permits of easy disengagement :of the loops 16 from the rails 17 and 19 to effect the raising movement of theframe under the urge of the springs 10.

From the foregoing, the operation and use of the improved hamper will be apparent. vThe bag 3, supported by the frame member 18a and dependent from it can be filled while in either a raised or lowered position. In lowered position, the bag-support will be held down by the engagement of the loops 16 over the tops of the bars 17 and 19. To facilitatethe removal of the contents from the. bag 3 and to avoid the necessity for stooping or bending down While doing so, the bag-support and the bag 3 are elevated. This is done by disengaging the loops 16 from the rails 17 and 19 whereupon the springs 10 will become effective to elevate the bag-support 2 until the rising movement thereof is halted by the engagement of the loops 16 over the top of the frame. member 18a substantially as shown in FIGS.

It will be apparent from the foregoing, that a structure is provided by which the bag is easily raised and lowered and maintained in either position. While in its raised position the removal of the bag contents is comfortably accomplished without stooping or bending. The filling of the bag is conveniently done while the bag is lowered. Also, while the bag is in its lowered position, the height of the hamper is materially reduced to facilitate its storage.

Having thus described a single embodiment of the invention it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

l. A hamper construction comprising, a carriage provided with supporting wheels, a plurality of upstanding posts on said carriage, a bag-support including a frame member from which a bag issuspended, a plurality of tubular legs extending downwardly from the frame-and slidably fitted over the posts to thereby telescopically mount the bag-support on the carriage, spring means within the posts and within the legs for biasing the bag-support toward an elevated position, guide means extending upwardly from the carriage, said guide means havingdetents for engaging with the frame member to hold down the bag-support in opposition to the urge of the springs, or to actas stops against a part of the bag-support to limit its raising movement.

2. A hamper as provided for in claim 1, wherein the bag-support includes an encircling brace member, guide loops on said brace member andthrough which the guide members extend, and said guide means being upstanding,

rods with the detents thereon, said detentsconsisting of loops formed at the upper ends of the rods. 7

3. A hamper construction comprising, a carriage of substantially rectangular form provided at each of its corners with an upstanding hollow post, a bracing frame member extending around the posts, a bag-support pro- 6 vided. at the top with a. rectangular frame, a bag suspended from said frame, a plurality of hollow legs extending downwardly from said frame and slidably fitted over the,

posts to thereby telescopically mount the bag-support on the carriage, .springs located within the posts and legs to thereby bias the bag-support toward an elevated position with respect to the carriage, a rein-forcing frame member extending around-the legs, guide loops provided on said frame. member, rods attached at their lower ends to the bracing frame member of the carriage, said rods being guidedthrough the guide loops, the rod having loop memhers at their upper ends for taking over the bracing frame member when the bag-support is elevated arid for taking over the rectangular frame of the bag-support when said bag'-support is in a lowered position. v p

4. A hamper construction havinga carriage provided with a plurality of upstandingposts, a bag-support having a frame from which a' bag' is carried, hollowlegs extending from the frame andtelescop'ica'lly fitted over the posts,

springs contained within the posts and legs for biasing the bag-support toward an elevated position, stop means for limiting the rising movement of the bag-support, said stop means also constituting hold-down means for the bagsupport when the same is in its lowered position.

5. In a hamper construction as provided for in claim 4,

wherein the stop means comprising rods disposed at the opposite sidesof the carriage and bag-support, and means carried by the bag-support for engagement by said rods when the bag-support is elevated or When'it is in a lowered'position.

6. In a hamperconstructionas provided for in claim 5, wherein the rods are provided with loops at their upper ends and whichloo'ps take over the means on the bagsuppor't.

7. A hamper" construction Having a wheeled" carriage,

said carriage being provided with a plurality of upstanding tubular posts, a reinforcing frame extended around and attached to the posts, a pair of guide rods attached at their lower ends to the reinforcing frame and provided with lo'ops at theirupper ends, a bag-support providedaf the .top with-abag-carrying frame, hollow legs" extending downwardly from said frame and telescopically fitted over the posts, springs contained within the posts and legsror biasing the bag-carrying frame toward a raised position relatively to thecarriag'e, said bag-carrying frame beifig engageable under the loops when the bag-carrying frame is in alowered position, the bag-support being provided with a reinforcing brace member ha'v'iri'gguide means by which the rods are guided, said brace member being en? gageable under the loops on the rods when the bag supporf is in a lowered position, to thereby hold theb'ag-s'upport in such position in opposition to the bias ofthef springs.

8. A hamper construction asprovided for in claim 7, wherein theposts and legs have lugs projecting internally, and the springs are confined betweenthe said lugs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,526,920 Liptok, Feb. 17, 1925 2,604,334 Schultz July 22-, 1952 ,847,227 Lankford Aug. 12, 1958 

4. A HAMPER CONSTRUCTION HAVING A CARRIAGE PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF UPSTANDING POSTS, A BAG-SUPPORT HAVING A FRAME FROM WHICH A BAG IS CARRIED, HOLLOW LEGS EXTENDING FROM THE FRAME AND TELESCOPICALLY FITTED OVER THE POSTS, SPRINGS CONTAINED WITHIN THE POSTS AND LEGS FOR BIASING THE BAG-SUPPORTED TOWARD THE ELEVATED POSITION, STOP MEANS FOR LIMITING THE RISING MOVEMENT OF THE BAG-SUPPORTED, SAID STOP 